The Bloomberg Spinoff Index is up more than 30% so far this year and the Guggenheim Spin-Off exchange-traded fund (ticker: CSD) has climbed 19%. As noted in a favorable item on companies cut loose by their parent here March 5, the ETF is a bit flawed because it doesn’t pick up spinoffs until they have been independently trading for six months, after which they’ve often been discovered and bid up.

In a week, shareholders of the $1 billion market-value mini-conglomerate Nacco Industries (NC) will receive shares in forklift maker Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, which represents the majority of Nacco’s value. The remainder of Nacco will continue to own a coal producer, the Hamilton Beach small-appliance division, and the Kitchen Collection gourmet retailer.

Despite this collection of familiar brands, the family-controlled Nacco is only minimally covered by Wall Street. Nacco shareholders of record as of Sept. 25 will receive a share of Hyster-Yale for each Nacco share owned, and both will begin trading separately Oct. 1. Joe Cornell, analyst at Spin-Off Advisors in Chicago, is bullish on Hyster-Yale, in part because the spin will allow it to participate in industry consolidation.

Using sober assumptions and comparable-company valuations as a guide produces a sum-of-parts value for Nacco following the spin at between $140 and $165 a share, up from Nacco’s Friday closing level of $112.48.

About Focus on Funds

As exchange-traded funds and other investing vehicles have ballooned in number, the task of figuring out what works well and what doesn’t has only gotten harder. Barrons.com’s Focus on Funds looks under the hood of ETFs, mutual funds and hedge funds for overlooked values, actionable ideas and the latest pitfalls for fund investors.

Chris Dieterich has covered the U.S. stock market for The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. He is a graduate of Regis University and the Missouri School of Journalism.